SunPower Rival Silevo Plans 200MW Solar-Module Factory in U.S.

Silevo, which has raised $72 million in two financing
rounds, is in talks with private-equity investors and financial
institutions to close financing on a 200-megawatt cell and
module plant in the U.S., said Christopher Beitel, executive
vice president of global business development and planning. It
currently produces cells at a 32-megawatt factory in China.

Solar manufacturers are looking to expand outside China
after the U.S. and the European Commission imposed anti-dumping
penalties on products from the country. The U.S. solar market,
also boasting lower energy costs, is expected to grow 61 percent
this year as homes and businesses add panels, according to the
Washington-based Solar Energy Industries Association.

Silevo, based in Fremont, California, will build its plant
in one of four U.S. states, Beitel said yesterday in an
interview at a solar conference in Munich. “The states that we
are engaged with are bringing quite a bit to the table in terms
of grants, incentives, access to low-interest debt,” he said.

Silevo currently hires other companies to package the cells
from its Hangzhou plant into modules. By making a larger portion
of its modules in-house in the U.S., it will be able to control
expenses by cutting shipping costs and ensure greater protection
of its intellectual property, according to the producer.

“Water and the electricity in China are much more
expensive than in the U.S., and the labor cost is very close,”
Chief Executive Officer Zheng Xu said in Munich. “In terms of
production cost, it’s very comparable to North America.” Silevo
may build a third factory in Europe or the Middle East, he said.

The company plans to use its production facilities as hubs,
with the Chinese plant serving the Asia-Pacific region and the
U.S. site serving North and South America. It intends to
announce details of its U.S. factory this year and start
producing in mid-2014, Beitel said.